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This is the published version: Close, Kirstie 2007, Bertha's blood, in They are but women : the road to female suffrage in Victoria, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, pp.118- 136. Available from Deakin Research Online: http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30065089 Reproduced with the kind permission of the copyright owner Copyright: 2007, University of Melbourne, School of Historical Studies BERTHA'S BLOOD KIRSTIE CLOSE There were two cornerstones in Bertha's life; cricket and dead rabbits. I find both repugnant, but I have had to explore both to better understand the woman who was my great-grandmother. Through writing about Bertha I attempt to illustrate the experiences of women around the year 1908. This was the year that women were awarded the right to vote in Victoria. 1 Bertha was not active in campaigns for or against the women's suffrage movement. In fact, it is not known whether she even voted in the next state election, held in 1911. However as we are exploring the broad topic of "women in 1908", women like Bertha are important to reflect upon. She was busy getting on with life at the time of the 1908 decision. Her existence did not start or cease in that year because of a parliamentary decision. That does not mean that she did not benefit from women's ability to vote. She stands, however, as a contrast to many of the other women that you will find in this book. Bertha's son Norman (affectionately known as Norm), who became my grandfather, was never comfortable speaking about her. Newspaper articles, too, that could have offered insight into her life did not offer more than scant details. Thus I have had to read between the lines more often than not. It is in these silences that I have found glimpses of her. These silences also reflect the sentiment that women during this period should remain in the private sphere, rather than encroach upon the public domain. 2 So without further ado, please let me introduce you to Bertha Henrietta Churcher. OUT OF THE OLD AND INTO THE NEW Bertha immigrated to Australia from England at the age of four. 3 Prior to that, her family resided in the district of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Bertha's grandfather was recorded in an 1850 census as being a practising lawyer. By 1861, he had become a mason, a profession that he was to pass on to his eldest son Walter. 4 118 Kirstie Close Walter had finished his apprenticeship in stone masonry when he married Jane Nichols in 1874. They were both near the age of thirty. Their children, Bertha Henrietta and Annie Louisa arrived in quick succession; Bertha in 1878 and Annie in 1880.5 The family went willingly to the colony of Victoria, their passage paid from their own pockets. Government-assisted immigration had ceased by the time the Churchers decided to relocate in 1882.6 The Churchers were thus determined and had some money to their name. The upfront minimum payment of £15 for steerage allowed their passage. 7 They sailed in the ship Sorata, which arrived in Melbourne in August of 1882.8 There were no Churchers in Victoria to greet them, but Jane's family (the Nichols) possibly helped them settle in Melbourne as there were bountiful numbers of Nichols in the colony at the time. They established themselves on Queensberry Street, North Melbourne. After a few years of life on Queensberry Street, Jane became ill. She had contracted pulmonary phthisis, more commonly known as tuberculosis. Symptoms of tuberculosis include loss of weight and energy, a progressive cough that may bring up blood and a high fever-a nasty affliction.9 The money that the Churchers had set aside to purchase property in the bustling city went directly to Jane's medicinal needs. The family's outlook grew more ominous as weeks passed. The Churchers came to rely upon those around them in the Hotham community and there were many associations from which to obtain assistance. There was no government welfare at this time so churches, benevolent and friendly societies were vital. 10 Walter would not have been able to afford to stay home with Jane, and thus worked from six a.m. until four p.m. which were the hours kept by the city's stone masons. 11 With the girls so young, they may have been left in the care of others so that Walter could work and they would not be infected by their mother. Jane passed away on 27 July 1886, four years after they had arrived in the colony. The small family watched her go into the ground at Melbourne's General Cemetery. Losing her so soon after 119 Bertha's Blood arriving in Melbourne must have been incredibly difficult for Walter; they had been married for twelve years. Walter, Bertha and Annie continued to rely on those around them. It was while living with her father in North Melbourne that Bertha was introduced to the game of cricket. As a treat for the girls, he would take them down to the local cricket ground to watch the local team. The cricket pitch was on Macaulay Road and Dryburgh Street, a few blocks from Queensberry Street. 12 This was a place where the community gathered and gossiped, and more importantly, connected. It took two years to find a new mother for the girls. Her name was Martha Vautier and she too had lost her partner a few years prior. She resided a few streets away from the Churchers on Little Howard Street, North Melbourne. Walter moved into her home with the girls after their marriage on 4 June 1888. 13 By this time Walter was working in Williamstown as a carpenter on a temporary job, his main residence remained North Melbourne. Securing Martha had ensured a place for the girls to go during the day while he was at work. Or so he thought. Neither hide nor hair can be recovered regarding Walter's demise. We can only assume that he passed away, as there is no death record for him in Victoria. 14 Martha remarried, to Mr John Voake, onl(s seven months after her union with Walter, on 4 January 1889. 5 Therefore, sometime in late 1888 Walter must have left his girls in some way, shape or form. There was a rumour in the family that Jane and Walter had abandoned Bertha and Annie and returned to England. 16 At least we know that is not true of Jane. The absence of Walter's death record is a concern; perhaps there was some truth to the myth. The outgoing passenger lists from that period were unobtainable at the time of this research so this is a stone that will be left unturned for the moment. Whatever happened, Martha did not wish to continue caring for the girls, as she already had three mouths to feed. 17 It was not because she too had passed away, because she did not do so until 1922. 18 Despite this, Bertha and Annie were not listed on the Children's Register that recorded the names of "neglected children". 19 "Neglected children" were classified as those: 120 Kirstie Close -found begging or receiving alms, -wandering about or sleeping in streets, taverns, or public places, and children who were not cared for or accommodated in any way, -living in brothels, -having committed an offence punishable by imprisonment, -children whose parents are unable to control them and wished them to be sent to the industrial school, giving security to the Justices for payment of maintenances. 20 The latter would have been a ways of putting the girls "up for adoption." It is comforting to know that Bertha and Annie were not counted among many other children who were forced to live like tramps. Due to their absence on the "neglected children's register", we can assume that an arrangement was made to send the girls to foster families through ready-made contacts. Bertha went into the care of the Pritchard family, and Annie to Mrs Charlotte Simcock. Both families were in Richmond, so the girls still saw each other frequently, living only a few streets apart. Not only that, but the Pritchard and Simcock families were related, so contact between both families was established. Bertha's new home with the Pritchard's was on Cubitt Street, Richmond. It was a crowded abode, with not only Bertha and her foster parents, but also the Pritchard children including William and Olive. 21 A tantalising description of the street exists. A Richmond resident described Cubitt Street as 'full of horse manure, waste papers, empty tins, rabbit entrails, dead cats and such like flotsam and jetsam, whilst the channels contained a quality of malodorous slush. ' 22 As I mentioned, rabbits were a cornerstone in Bertha's life. Rabbits had been introduced to the colony decades before and their population had flourished along with hares. In the city and the country they were a source of income. 23 Having said that Bertha was indifferent to women's suffrage, she was still aware of it. The Churcher girls' first documented contact with the women's suffrage movement was in 1891. In that year, women organised a petition to take to parliament to use as leverage when demanding women's suffrage. The petition came to be known as the 'Monster Petition'. To obtain the signatures, the suffragists 121 Bertha's Blood door-knocked houses all over the state and asked the women of the house to sign the document. 24 Annie signed the petition at the tender age of eleven.

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